What To Say To The Critic Of MMA?

My boss hates MMA. He says it's the downfall of american society. While this is an obvious exaggeration, he also argues that it's part of a desensitization process. You know... Americans needing more and more to stimulate. Basically that boxing wasn't enough and now we need people elbowing others' faces on the ground and lots of blood to entertain us. I didn't think this applied to me. I love MMA becuase I'm a born competitor. I love to watch competition or participate in it, and this is the ultimate form. But then I thought, I did used to like boxing, and now I don't. It is because it's too boring to me. Is he right? If not, whats my argument?

aaa9erh8er

10/16/08 1:34:20PM

i hear that all the time mma is barberic. just say that these are some of the most highly treained and skilled athlets in the world thats a good point but also its just as competitive as gfootball or any other "contact" sport

emfleek

10/16/08 1:36:04PM

Tell your boss that the easiest way to understand the awesomeness of MMA is by demonstration.

You be Rashad.

He can be Chuck.

And then tell him he's an idiot and to shove the job up his sphincter.

gsquat

10/16/08 1:44:43PM

But with all joking aside... how does one defend this? Can it be defended? Are we becoming desensitized?

Rush

10/16/08 2:03:01PM

I've tried to convince, but now I just avoid the conversation. Like most opinions, people are so arrogant and stubborn that they'll even lie to appear to be correct.

MMA, politics, religion, etc. If they present a well thought out argument, then I will listen, but if they just make a bold opinionated statement with nothing to back it up, I end the conversation quickly.

emfleek

10/16/08 2:05:03PM

Posted by gsquat

But with all joking aside... how does one defend this? Can it be defended? Are we becoming desensitized?

MMA has more viewers now that it's regulated. I don't think it has anything to do with being desensitized. It's not like the fighters are fighting to their deaths.

It's a combat sport. Human beings have ALWAYS enjoyed combat sports. This just so happens to be in its infant stages with the majority of people so not too many people are educated enough to enjoy it.

Does your boss even know anything about it? I'd be willing to bet that he still thinks off the no time limit, no rules aspect from the early years when he refers to MMA.

If not...well, it's not for everyone. I hate basketball but understand that others love it. Everybody's got their something.

gsquat

10/16/08 2:06:50PM

Sigh... but still. I'm not hearing anyone come up with anything to defend such an accusation. My question to all who read this is, "Do you have a good argument against the accusation of desensitization through MMA?"

Didn't want to waste my 1000th post on this but, whatever.

1000th post Whoop! whoop! Much sitting on ass and typing!

grappler0000

10/16/08 2:08:50PM

Posted by gsquat

But with all joking aside... how does one defend this? Can it be defended? Are we becoming desensitized?

I don't know about you, but I like the sport much more now than when it was in its infancy. The barbaric, no rules(well, very few rules anyway), stompfest was intriguing, but the talent and athleticism of today's MMA is much more appealing to me. If your boss was right, it would be the other way around.

gsquat

10/16/08 2:09:38PM

No.. he doesn't know anything about MMA. I mean nothing. I've argued that people actually used to battle to the death centuries ago. So if you look at the bigger picture and a more expanded timeline, we're actually under more regulation and less savagery. That was what I came up with.

emfleek

10/16/08 2:18:21PM

Posted by gsquat

No.. he doesn't know anything about MMA. I mean nothing. I've argued that people actually used to battle to the death centuries ago. So if you look at the bigger picture and a more expanded timeline, we're actually under more regulation and less savagery. That was what I came up with.

Exactly. That should be the end of it, if you ask me.

wiggum

10/16/08 2:48:51PM

when he mentions the downfall of society, throw it back in his face...cuz one major downfall is the closed minded of society and inability to accept new things.....he is a reason, not a sport...if he doesnt like mma, then change the channel.....people are just gonna like things that others dont, so your ignorant pathetic boss needs to let them......i love football but think soccer is a joke, but thats my opionon and not a fact and im not gonna go around to soccor lovers and tell them there sport sucks....espcially when you have to be a extremely well trained athlete to play it......mma is not barberic, hell ufc 1 wasnt baberic, it just looked that way cuz it was a real life clash of styles and not a van damme movie.....nowadays it is so technical that i can barely keep up myself and i like to think im pretty well trained.....with boxing, im the same fan i always have been with it, and still enjoy watching a good match....i like mma a lot more, but i like all combat sports wether im watching boxing, tae kwon, greco, or frickin arm wrestling.....its not that boxing or any other combat sport is boring, its just that mma is more exciting.....so tell your boss to open his mind, shut his lips and worry about things that are actually the downfall of our society, say maybe our current economic situation!!!!

wiggum

10/16/08 2:53:01PM

also, its not desensitation (sp? ahh who cares)....like above posters, it used to be gliadiator matches to the death, now we have regulations in a sport that has a massively less injury rate than any other major sport.....50 years from now, we wont be having these types of converstions, people will have accepted it like they accept boxing

scoozna

10/16/08 3:01:54PM

I basically agree with Rush that most people will not listen to even the most well thought out arguments, but alas, it's irresistible sometimes.

I'd concede to him that some level of desensitization goes on - because I think it is true to some extent - if you watch anything often enough, it fails to shock you. Once you have his ear on that, show him that a reasonable fan is not necessarily attracted to the sport because of blood, but rather, because of the athleticism, guts/courage/balls, variety of styles/techniques. You could point out that matches that turn into BJJ clinics are just as exciting as elbow-gashing GnP sessions.

Naturaldisaster

10/16/08 3:02:58PM

is BJJ barbaric? Muay Thai? Wrestling? Boxing? Karate, etc? no their not. So what makes it so barbaric once you add them all together? I'd ask him that.

mrsmiley

10/16/08 5:46:31PM

People like your boss really intrigue me when they say things like this.I mean for one,it's not like the sport of MMA came about over night.It's been around for quiet some time now.It's just the fact it is now becoming popular and people think its a bloodsport that simply developed last week.Another thing I find funny is that people always talk as if their's a huge gap in America that seperates average joe americans from those who are vunerable to the terrible "violence" that spurs from MMA.Their's people out their like your boss that believe things such as Horror movies,hardcore music,and MMA, will corrupt "less intelligent people",and that there're immune to the repercussions that follow.

Now with that said I would invite your boss to bone up on his history and see just how far humanity has come.I mean their use to be a time when people were tortured and executed for the sheer fun of it in front of a live audience.Look at all the things people have overcome in America alone,and I would say we are more sensative than your boss believes.Sure their is a lot of terrible violence out their,but you have to look at the good too.MMA is a very competitive sport,that brings out the warrior spirit in everyone.MMA is not violence,it is a sport involving 2 willing opponents that accept to enter into combat under a very specific rule set.It is very different from a "violent "or "barbaric" struggle between two people.

dannyfrank

10/16/08 5:55:09PM

i have the same type of arguments with my dad. he talks about how dangerous it is and how all they want to do is barbarically smash each others faces in. i tell him that in all the years of the UFC, i think only one guy has ever died from fight related injuries, as opposed to almost any other sport (such as football, hockey, rugby, boxing) where the death rate is much higher

Wolfenstein

10/16/08 6:29:13PM

It's not an "American" thing because MMA is a global sport. Personally I think desensitization is psychological mumbo jumbo, in the sense that watching fights or playing video games rarely desensitizes someone to violence in real life. I doubt anyone has gone over to Iraq, seen someone get killed, and be desensitized to it because they played a bunch of Halo or watched Keith Hackney punch some Sumo guy in the face.

Competition is human nature, and it comes in many forms. MMA is just one of them, albeit a violent one. It's not for everyone.

Really there is no way to convince your boss he's just plain wrong. It's a preference. Although if he likes violent movies I would say he's a hypocrite.

Some people like combat, some people don't. We're all just born with different prefferences. Boxing is more dangerous than MMA anyways and there's statistical data to back that up.

Rush

10/16/08 8:07:58PM

Regarding desensitization:

Are we really desensitized as people compared to centuries ago? Hear me out

Back then if you wanted to kill someone you did it a blade or club. Now people do it with guns, pushing buttons (nukes) and through computers (guided missiles)

Back then people were not afraid to kill an animal for food Now people protest the killing of animals and most people are squeamish at the thought of killing animals

These days people are paranoid about getting hurt, killed, etc. from the simplest activities in life. Most of this paranoia didn't even exist even 50 years ago.

If we were truly desensitized as a society, I think it would reflect in the activities of humans on a day to day basis.

ncordless

10/16/08 9:02:16PM

Posted by Rush

Regarding desensitization:

Are we really desensitized as people compared to centuries ago? Hear me out

Back then if you wanted to kill someone you did it a blade or club. Now people do it with guns, pushing buttons (nukes) and through computers (guided missiles)

Back then people were not afraid to kill an animal for food Now people protest the killing of animals and most people are squeamish at the thought of killing animals

These days people are paranoid about getting hurt, killed, etc. from the simplest activities in life. Most of this paranoia didn't even exist even 50 years ago.

If we were truly desensitized as a society, I think it would reflect in the activities of humans on a day to day basis.

I agree and would add that to say that people become desensitized is based on an idea that people are so stupid that they can't think for themselves and distinguish between something they see on TV and real life. It is simply not the case.

I'd love to get all scholarly right now, but I got a gig in about an hour. For good evidence to give your boss, look up limited effects theory of mass communication. The gist of it is that people are much more influenced by the people (family, friends, co-workers) around them then by any form of media. Someone raised in a violent family is much more likely to be violent than someone who watches violence on TV.

Furthermore, violent entertainment acts as a catharsis. People have always used ritualistic violence as a way to ease actual social violence. There have been public contests of two men engaged in violent confrontation continuosly in history with no real breaks besides real wars. It hasn't always been boxing either... especially not boxing as we know it.

Manfred

10/16/08 11:43:01PM

I've had some success explaining the whole purpose was to show the most effective SELF-DEFENSE methods. How it was a little guy who barely threw any strikes who dominated.

Then I explained how it evolved and everyone learned other styles and how most these guys are very smart and intensely conditioned. I see it as evolving, not desensitizing.

Since Liddell is probably the most famous fighter in the US, I tell people about how he has a degree in accounting.

I'd don't agree with elfeek that you should hit him. I'd be better to triangle him so he can smell your package right before going to sleep.

grappler0000

10/17/08 1:19:54AM

Posted by Manfred

I'd don't agree with elfeek that you should hit him. I'd be better to triangle him so he can smell your package right before going to sleep.

Touche!

gsquat

10/17/08 10:26:01AM

I'd never hit him or sub him, but I can dream... He also argues that the "stupid" people that watch it are gonna want to go out and fight someone, and seriously mess someone up. I tell him idiots will be idiots no matter what. Look at it this way... That raged up idiot might have gone out and used a gun to take out his agression before he knew any MMA. Which is more dangerous? While this may give MMA a bad name, you've got to look at the bigger picture.